The al-Ghazali Enigma and why Shari'a is not Islamic Law - Haifaa G. Khalafallah

The al-Ghazali Enigma and why Shari'a is not Islamic Law - Haifaa G. Khalafallah

Chapter 6: The Contents: Scripture—The Almighty and Women’s Leadership

The al-Ghazali Enigma and why Shari'a is not Islamic Law - Haifaa G. Khalafallah

Haifaa G. Khalafallah [+-]
Sinai Centre for Islamic Mediterranean Studies
Haifaa G. Khalafallah founded and presently directs the Sinai Centre for Islamic Mediterranean Studies, SCIMS, a UK based volunteer Muslim educational group. Previously she taught Islamic and Middle East history at Georgetown University, including in its various campuses in Washington DC, Doha, and Alanya.

Description

Chapter six continues the investigation of the case of women, turning to the role of Almighty in Muslim rule/lawmaking. It focuses on how Ghazali determined whether or not Shari’a allowed them to hold general jurisdiction over the community, wilaya. It explores how Muslims have approached contents of the Qur’an in general and how many used it to prohibit women from holding public offices or even populating public space. The discussion then considers the difficult evolution and nature of what Muslims came to regard as divinely-guided precedent, the Sunna. In the late 20th century, Ghazali found himself standing at the fork of a road that split into two conflicting traditions. One side of this road led to their scholarly legacy that preoccupied itself with the integrity of reports about these precedents that their Prophet and his community had set. The other side led to a vast landscape populated by an army of petty clerics that dispensed God’s instructions mostly by means of hadith reports and fiqh anecdotes. Forced thus, Ghazali began to ponder painful questions. The chapter charts how he turned to the scripture and historical precedent for answers; how, at the end of this intellectual journey, Ghazali concluded ‘novel’ universal Shari’a rules on gender and leadership (including in government and prayers) and, more importantly, he explained the process by which he deduced them according to Shari’a’s methodology.

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Citation

Khalafallah, Haifaa. Chapter 6: The Contents: Scripture—The Almighty and Women’s Leadership. The al-Ghazali Enigma and why Shari'a is not Islamic Law. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 129-154 Apr 2017. ISBN 9781781792957. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=27628. Date accessed: 11 Dec 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.27628. Apr 2017

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